For someone like Jake Mikalauskis who experienced a troubled adolescence, it would be very easy to want to run from one’s past. Jake, however, has boldly chosen to run for it, by taking on the 129th Boston Marathon® presented by Bank of America to pay tribute to his personal experience at The Home and support its vital work.
As a teenager, Jake struggled to stay out of trouble. He was impulsive and short-tempered, no stranger to getting into fights at school or having run-ins with the local police and juvenile court system. His behavior led him to be committed to the Department of Youth Services. During his freshman year of high school, the agency released Jake from its care and secured him a placement at Longview Farm, now known as The Home in Walpole.
In his six months at the private residential school for youth with behavioral, emotional and educational challenges, Jake developed relationships, benefitted from the structure of campus life and developed life skills that he appreciates to this day.
“Longview taught me a lot about responsibility, which I didn’t know much about at the time, but I also had a lot of fun,” says Jake. Some of his best memories include enjoying weekly visits from his favorite volunteer and playing on the basketball team. He can still vividly recall traveling with his lively teammates to play against youth at another school in Plymouth. “When you are a kid in a program like that, you can feel so detached from the outside world,” Jake admits. “But now, I am able to look back and see how much The Home taught me about real life and appreciate how it gave me those experiences. That’s why I’m so happy to fundraise.”
Now 26 years old, the Braintree resident and father is eager to get out on the running course to bring visibility to the organization’s 30+ programs that work to make a difference in the lives of 15,000 kids and families each year.
Want to help Jake meet his $10,000 fundraising goal for The Home? Click here to donate today!
